The role of the clinical nurse specialist

In this article, the role of the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) at the University Hospital Insel in Bern, Switzerland, is described using four examples from daily practice. The first describes how the CNS may influence patient care by direct care, bedside teaching, or case reviews. Therefore, this form of co-operation with the nursing teams is a very important factor for improving nursing care. The second example is about wound care. Although the CNS work as generalists on the wards, they also have their specialist fields, where they have in-depth knowledge, skills and expertise. The third example describes how a CNS initiated an interprofessional working group with the aim of improving palliative care and palliative medicine throughout the hospital. Although such knowledge already existed in the hospital, it was not easily accessible to all the health care professionals. The fourth example is about project management. A CNS acted as a project leader of a multiprofessional group for pain assessment and management in babies, children and adolescents. This example also shows how a problem occurring in daily practice can be worked out and resolved.